Assessors conducting factory visits in Egypt for the FLA and its affiliated brands have recently detected a very common wage-related violation in Egypt’s free trade zones.  Established in 1997, Egypt’s 10 free trade zones – where most large manufacturing facilities are located – provide companies sourcing from Egypt with incentives, like tax exemptions, and also operate under labor regulations that may differ from other areas of the country. assessors have found that local authorities often will not enforce the overtime regulations in the free trade zones, and consequently factories will often ignore them, planning their production for a 48-hour workweek, without any overtime payments between 42 and 48 hours.  Though a 48-hour regular workweek is in line with the FLA Workplace Code of Conduct, affiliates must always follow local laws when they establish a standard that exceeds the FLA code. To correct this situation, the FLA urges all affiliated brands sourcing from factories located in Egyptian free trade zones to pay special attention to checking on regular weekly hours of work when conducting internal monitoring visits, and to raise the issue directly with factory management wherever a working-hours violation is found.